Lives of the Poets

On this day in 1911 critic, poet, pornographer and the man who coined the term surrealism, Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested and thrown into jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa. He had, after all, once called for the Louvre to be burned to the ground. It probably didn’t help that it turned out he had in fact offered shelter to Vincenzo Peruggia, the man who did steal the painting, and who left behind some Egyptian statuettes that were also part of the theft. Knowing things were dangerous for him, and looking for some way out Apollinaire dropped the dime on Pablo Picasso who was then dragged in for questioning. Picasso was released. And, after a week, so was Apollinaire.